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Cambodia receives first UNODC-WCO training in Container Control



Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 8 March 2016
- With over 500 million sea containers traversing across the globe every year law enforcement officers must be ever vigilant to detect, deter, prevent and combat the illicit trafficking of weapons of mass destruction, drugs, precursor chemicals, wildlife and other items that could either be utilised for terrorist activity or benefit transnational organised criminal groups.

Cambodia is a country of import, export and transit of various illicit trade items and a country at risk from transnational organised threats such as heroin, opium, synthetic drugs, precursors, illegal wildlife and timber, weapons, counterfeit goods and falsified medicines.

Cambodia recently saw the completion of its first two-week theoretical training on container controlfollowing the extension of the UNODC-WCO Global Container Control Programme (CCP) to its territory in 2015. A total of Cambodian 25 officers were training from a range of different agencies on risk analysis and management, methods of concealment and criminal modus operandi in relation to trafficking in the containerised supply chain.

Strongly supported by the Royal Government of Cambodia, the implementation of CCP in Cambodia is described by the Secretary-General of the National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD), Lieutenant GeneralMeasVyrith, as an innovative approach in the fight against drug trafficking which is on rise in the country. He also noted that CCP is the very first initiative of its kind to tackle trafficking through seaports.

'The Container Control Program establishes new networks to share information between border and law enforcement agencies, which is critical to combatting transnational crime and facilitating legitimate trade", highlighted Mr Greg Kelly, Minister Counsellor (Immigration and Border Protection) at the Australian Embassy Phnom Penh during the Opening Ceremony. The Government of Australia is a donor to the SE Asia component of CCP.

UNODC estimates the criminal proceeds of trafficking in the top 10 illegal commodities in SE Asia and the Pacific to be at least 90 billion USD per annum. Over 95% of this value relates to items that can be transported within sea containers. Detecting and preventing these items in the containerised supply chain will make a significant contribution to disrupting organised criminal activity, facilitating trade, protection societies and developing economies.

As Cambodia continues its economic growthin the context of the ASEAN Economic Community, an enhanced capacity to secure the containerised supply chain will protect its people, support ASEAN partners and contribute to the global fight against terrorism and transnational organised crime.

The Global Container Control Programme operates in 52 countries of the world. The 8 ASEAN countries of Lao PDR, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are included in the SE Asia component of the Programme through the financial contributions of the Governments of Canada (Global Partnership Program), the United States of America (Export Control and Related Border Security Programme) and Australia (Department of Immigration and Border Protection).